Dark
by Doctor Writer M.D
Summary: Alara only cares about two things in the world. Power and her brother, Nicolae. When the Volturi takes an interest in Nicolae because of his ability of compulsion, Alara manages to tag along, despite her lack of ability. But Alara doesn't need a power to be powerful, her ambition and ruthlessness is enough to give her what she wants, which is much more than the Volturi can offer.
1. 1

_Alara_

I must say, looking at the three 'kings' of the vampire world, I was deeply disappointed.

Despite, my reputation of not being intimidated by anyone, I was expecting the act of standing in judgment in front of the rulers of the vampire world to at least evoked a feeling of fear in me but it didn't come.

I couldn't say the same for my brother, who stood way too close to me and slightly behind me, which was ironic because he was the one they were interested in, not me.

Yet, he cowered behind me like he often does, me acting as his protector and big sister like I always do.

"So you are the famous manipulator?" The vampire spoke but it was less of a question and more like a statement in a sing-song tone.

My brother did not reply, so I spoke up, "He is."

The vampire eyes finally landed on me for seemingly the first time; before he was too busy eyeing my brother like a coveted prize to even spare me a prolonged glance.

"He insisted to only come with us if she was allowed also." One of the other vampires, Demetri, explained. The dark hair vampire speared me another glace, and I stepped forward. "You want my brother for his power."

It wasn't much of a question. I have heard of the Volturi leaders, especially the one called Aro who had a knack for collecting vampires with great gifts. There was a slight twitch of annoyance in his expression before he stepped down from his throne.

"His power would be of use to us, however, it is a simple offer. He is free to refuse."

Of course, it was. But not without a consequence.

I knew that the Volturi was not used to being refused and naturally, I realized that if Nico refused, I was going to be the consequence. Although the thought of being used as collateral was upsetting, I still was impressed by the practical thinking on their part.

"Well, I refuse." Nico bitted out, venom lacing his usual soft-spoken voice. Aro glared back at him and the throne room became stiller than it already was.

"No, he doesn't," I spoke up and now everyone's eyes were trained on me, but my eyes only meet Nicolae who had a familiar dumbstruck look on his face, the look that questioned what the hell I was doing; it was a look I often got from him.

Nicolae was usually good at reading people; it was a side benefit that came along with his power of changing their mind, but he was naive, always underestimating the extent people would go to get what they want. I hope that he could read me now, and realize what I was trying to do.

"Do you make all the decisions for him, now?" It was the blonde one- Caius - that asked that question.

"No more than a sisterly counsel." Alara glared upon him. He was no more than twenty in appearance, making him the youngest looking of the three.

"Hence why, using me as collateral is a generally good idea." I glanced back at Aro, as a condescending smirk slowly appeared on his face.

"What?" Nicolae stepped forward, finally understanding what was happening.

"I offered you a choice. I didn't promise it would be a fair one." Aro walked back up the steps.

"That's a risky technique to use, Aro." It was my first time saying his name and I saw a slight apprehension in his expression before it disappeared.

"It's never been a problem, before." I fought the urge to roll my eyes, _of course not_.

Rumors of the Volturi coven have been rampant since the last decades. Most revolved around how they sought power throughout the vampire world and hoped to overthrow the Romanian coven that ruled for centuries.

Of course, our leader Dorin always dismissed the rumors claiming that was not possible; No one could overthrow the Romanian coven, especially not a "newly" established one such as the Volturi. Despite their potential, they didn't have the connections and none of the covens would stand behind them if they seek to overthrow us. Dorin was wrong, and now dead along with most of the other members of the " _great and ancient"_ Romanian coven.

I knew that Nicolae and I couldn't have been the only ones still alive.

Especially since loyalty wasn't a particularly popular character trait among the members of the Romanian coven. I had run to get Nicolae when news of the approaching Volturi, spread around the castle. I had no desire to fight but Nico; Nico with his naivety and human morality that he had refused to discard over the decades stopped me.

"Go without me." He said." I'll catch up with you after. I'll come find you, I promise."

I wonder if that was his way of manipulating me. He knew I would never leave him.

"You're going to use Corin to tie my brother's loyalty to you." I declared.

It was no use trying to play Aro's game. I knew that he would most likely win, if not by his age then through his power. From my short time in his presence, I could tell he was good at his technique - being subtle, luring you in until you are comfortable around him, comfortable enough to forget that there is a reason he rose to power so fast. And I knew that perhaps the only way to even go about this was to be the complete opposite.

It was in my nature to be blunt, but after this particular characteristic got me in trouble with most of my past coven members, I learned to use the art of subtlety and manipulation; mostly, from observing Nicolae, who was the master of both.

"Wait, no." I countered. "You're going to first use Corin to try and break my bond with my brother, tie his loyalty to you, and then get rid of me."

"Not really, but that's an excellent plan," Aro replied, all while looking like he was actually considering adopting my plan.

In his contemplative state, he actually looked impressed, so I wasn't too shocked when he declared, "You might be of good use to me too."


	2. 2

_Nicolae_

I wish I had the same confidence as my sister but I didn't.

"Out" Alara drawled for the third time in the past hour.

However, this time the intruder stood at the door seemingly unaffected by her threatening command.

"It is quite too soon for you to give commands around here." Alara turned her face to look at the intruder, Demetri.

"You'll have to wait a few decades maybe a century." He replied in his usual nonchalant drawl, like if he had a long list of tasks on his to-do list, and being here was wasting his time. He did, however, seemed amused by my sister's attitude.

I didn't say anything. The exchange was between Alara and him, and I didn't want to intrude, not that I had anything to say.

Alara scoffed and turn her face back to staring at the ceiling. "Waiting was never a virtue of mine."

"Neither is following orders," Demetri added.

"Yes, that too." Alara deadpanned.

"I've heard about you. You have quite a reputation." Alara continued to ignore him.

"Little Dragon." He drawled before finally turning to me and pointing, "Or is it you that is the little Dragon, and she the big one?"

She was in front of him in a second. Her face blank. Her eyes cold.

Alara hated that name. Partly because of the connotation behind "little" and mostly because of the Dragon part, which was an artifact of our human life.

Our surname was Draculeis. It wasn't a bad surname to have, it was a noble surname after all but its connotation with madness and failure was well known throughout Romania.

"Unfortunately, I can't say I ever heard of you," Alara commented calmly, sizing him up.

He smirked at her. "Demitri." He introduced himself.

"Yeah, I have definitely not heard of you. " She lied as she turned her back to him and slowly walked back to the sofa she was lounging in earlier. "Now, Out."

"Aro sent you a command-" Before he could continue, Alara interrupted "So the mighty Aro sends his henchmen to do his job for him. Why am I not surprise?"

This time it was Demetri that flashed across the room towards Alara, but before he could say or do anything, I was in between them grasping his arm that gripped Alara's shoulder.

I stared at him but said nothing. It was enough time for Alara to recover from the threat of attack and push him away.

"If you ever do that again, I swear I'll find a way to kill you myself." Alara threatened.

It was moments like this that I wished, Alara wasn't so blunt, and had some type of restraint to not say anything she wished to anyone she wanted. She just threatened to kill a high-ranking Volturi member, and the looked on her face told me that if it came to that, she will hold no restraint to actually follow through with her threat.

"Is that a promise?" Demetri teased, again amused. It was not the reaction I anticipated, but something told me that he wasn't used to being threatened and that in itself amused him.

"Cross your heart and hope to die." Alara spat back out.

I figured this was a good place to intervene and make sure that my sister didn't sign her own death sentence.

"What did Aro want you to tell us?" I asked calmly.

His eyes met mine for the first time he came into the room.

"That dinner will be served at 7 pm." He declared. "Be good guests and come along" He looked at my sister while saying the last part.

* * *

I got a familiar feeling in my gut afterward. I waited until I was back in the room that was assigned to me before collapsing into the bed. Drinking blood always made me sick afterward, not physically sick, but the feeling of the realization that I just murdered innocent people.

I tried not to think about it, as Alara always suggested.

My room door suddenly opened and I sat up in an instant, before recognizing that only my sister would have the audacity to barge into my room unannounced.

"I swear if you're crying, I will beat you myself." She threatened.

"I am not crying." That was impossible, but if I could, I would be.

"But you are moping," Alara commented. "There is no time for that, Nico. We need to find a way to get out of this mess."

"I thought you accepted the offer," I commented. I understood why she did it but I still wasn't happy about it.

"Not because I wanted to." She was on her knees on the sofa at the end of my bed, looking over at me.

"They would have killed us both if we refused." She ranted. "Well, maybe not you, Aro wants you like a precious toy, he'll probably have gotten rid of me and find a way to mind wipe you."

"I could have taken them down." I bit out.

Alara looked at me incredulously. "Are you serious, Nico? I know your power, but I doubt it would hold up against all of them at once, enough to get us away. And if we did get away, they would have hunted us down to the end of this earth probably for eternity."

I rolled my eyes and sank into my bed wishing that I could actually sleep.

I hated to admit when she was right, but she was right. "So what do you want us to do?"

"Watch out for Corin." She commanded. "And don't be get too nice with any of them"

"Is Corin, the one who can break up relationships," I asked.

Alara rolled her eyes. "Yes, her. I doubt Aro wishes to keep me around for long."

I scoffed. "Not that you are making his decision hard for him."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You threatened one of his guards, and tonight at dinner, what was that?"

Alara shook her head and smirked. She wasn't about to wait in line for dinner.

"Just do what I say, watch out for Corin. While I come up with a way to get us out of this mess."

* * *

It was almost dawn when Alara finally left to go to her room.

I was exhausted. The way Alara explained everything it seemed that we were now living in a Machiavellian court, where everyone was scheming and one wrong move could mean death.

I guess because of my power people assume that I am socially crafty and lithe, but that is far from the truth.

When I first turned, I was confused by my gift. I could manipulate people to do what I want them to, no matter how absurd or harmful, but a gift is supposed to be an extension of a trait you exhibited as a human.

I was far from charismatic and manipulative in my human life, if I was I would have gotten all the boys from the other noble families to stop beating me every Sunday after mass, or manipulated father into thinking that I was the son he always wanted or convinced mother that she was sane and that Alara and I weren't dirty.

Being a part of the Romanian coven wasn't better, just a little.

I was feared and respected because of my power and what I could do for the coven, but I had no real friends or anyone I truly trusted, only Alara.

Alara, who was hated by almost everyone in the coven, who stopped the other noble boys from beating me up, by threatening to break every one of their fingers if they ever laid hands on me again, Alara who protected me from father's rant and mother's psychotic episodes.

Alara always did what was best for me, and so I trusted her now, especially now.

* * *

 **Please write a review to keep my spirit up!**


	3. 3

_Alara_

"You weren't invited in." Caius hissed as I walked into the throne room.

Demetri and Felix moved forward as if to seize me and throw me out, but I sharply turned my head to look at Demetri hoping that it would trigger his memory of my threat from earlier. I only warranted a slight smirk from him.

"Ah, no." I paused. " But I figured you'd want to talk to me. So, here I am," It was being amusing but none of them seemed to enjoy being amused, perhaps maybe only Aro. "I came to offer my assistance."

"Which is not needed." Caius rebutted.

I sighed while moving into the room.

"As an outsider, let me give you perspective, you're not well-liked."

"It's not our goal to be liked." Caius hissed out.

"No, it's not. Your goal is to be feared." I looked at him while sinking into one of the chairs that surrounded the table "Which I must admit have been working well." I paused before adding "- so far."

"So far?" Aro raised an eyebrow.

My gaze moved to him. "So far."

"Are you questioning our actions?" Aro placed down the book that he held in his hands a moment earlier.

I winced. "Questioning? No. Just commenting."

"What position are you in to even comment?" Caius glared at me.

I sat up in the chair. "I am a former member of the Romanian coven. I intend to make myself useful by helping you to secure your new position in the vampire world"

There was a scoff from Marcus, but he neither looked up from the book he held in his hand or said anything, so I simply looked at him before continuing.

"I am offering my assistance to improve your relationship with the other covens and vampires, especially in the new destabilized regions."

"There is no need," Aro commented. "There are no vampires left in the destabilized regions."

I almost wanted to laugh. He thought he killed all of the Romanian coven, I quickly decided if I wanted to gloat or keep the information they obviously didn't know to myself.

"We had allies. Allies who will not be happy with your new coup. How do you intent to pacify them?"

Aro glanced at me, but without saying anything went back to reading the thick, antique book in his hands.

"You can't kill everyone, Aro." I tusked.

"What exactly are you offering, girl?" Caius jumped in.

His use of the word 'girl' was insulting but I bit my tongue. "I can help with pacification."

Caius laughed. It was a dry laugh that lacked any joy or humor whatsoever. "You mean to tell us that we should trust you in improving our relationship with the covens?"

I shrugged.

"You are by far the most unlikeable person, I ever met." Caius sneered. "And I hate most of the people I met."

"Something we both have in common, who would have guessed," I replied

"Good thing your goal is not being liked." I sighed. "My plan is to convince them that you all have their best interest at heart and are not just power-hungry maniacs." That garnered a stare from Aro, "While there is a myriad of things you could be doing with your immortality, you have taken upon yourself the burden of ruling over the vampire world and keeping it safe from humans, and they really should be grateful for the order you hope to establish."

"I must admit you speak with much belief, you almost had me convinced," Aro commented.

"So, what do you say?" I questioned.

"No." Aro retorted immediately. "Now, leave."

I made no signal of leaving and instead sat and stared. It wasn't as if I expected them to accept my help immediately, but I was still hoping.

"So, what do you expect me to do around here?"

"We were hoping that you stay out of our sight, but apparently that won't be happening, so I recommend you instead turn your effort toward not pushing our hand toward your execution. Now leave." Aro clarified.

"You can't kill me. I don't think Nicolae would like that, would he?" I retorted.

"There are multiple ways to get around that." Aro was now glaring at me. "Let's just hope it never gets to that."

Holding his gaze, I replied. "Let's hope."

* * *

"I must admit to your bravery for talking to the masters the way you do."

I stopped and turned to see Felix, close behind me. "Masters?" I scoffed. "That's what you call them?"

He shrugged, before smiling. "On second thought, I think I might just enjoy your presence with us."

"As opposed to?" I drawled out.

"Having multiple thought about killing you."

I scoffed."If you like me just say so, no need to threaten a lady." I filled my dark hair over my shoulders while rolling my eyes.

"I doubt you are much of a lady." He returned in a jovial tone.

I placed a hand over my chest," You insult my honor?"

"Well, you did call my mother a whore and threaten to do unspeakable things to my manhood on our way here."

I sighed. "Considering the situation we were in, I say it was totally earned. Be lucky I never actually acted on my threats."

"Is that so?" He took a step forward and if the size of him didn't dawn on her earlier it sure did now.

I held up an arm in mock modesty and declared, "Slow down. We haven't even been properly introduced."

"Yes, Felix" a voice came from the dark, "Stop flirting with the strangler."

The voice was childlike but cold, and it wasn't until the owner of the voice stepped into the dimly lit corridor where we stood that I recognized that it was the infamous Jane Volturi. I wasn't expecting her to be so small although I knew she was fourteen years old. I looked her up and down, before meeting her cold gaze.

"Strangular?"

"It is what you are." She said it as if it was a fact and not her mere opinion. With such certainty that an easily swayed person would accept it without any hesitation. "Seeing that we didn't extend our invitation to you."

"Invitation?" I scoffed while turning towards her. "Sweetheart, you make it seems like a birthday party."

My eyes wandered around the castle walls. "This is anything but a party. What this is, is depressing and trust me, I wouldn't be here if I didn't have to."

"That can be properly arranged." She spat back.

I smiled. "Oh, how far I have I fallen, now even little girls are insulting me." I glanced toward Felix, but I saw a glimpse of the stoic expression on his face before a flood of pain was in my head and I found myself stumbling towards the walls to withhold the pain.

"Jane." I heard a voice through the pain, which sounded like Felix talking to Jane.

The pain cleared a few seconds after, and it took me a second to recover and stand up straight. I could see the smug look on Jane's face and the concerned one on Felix's, and the next second I was in front of Jane with my hands going towards her face.

The sound echoed off the castle wall and then it was silent for a second as the shock of what I just did dawned on Jane and Felix, and then me, as a small smile started to appear on my face.

But then suddenly the silence broke and I could hear voices in the periphery and footsteps swiftly coming towards us and a slight gasp from Felix. And I prepared myself for the pain and although it made it no easier when it came, I had a chance to reach out for Jane's neck the second before it hit, and I held on through the pain.


	4. 4

_Nicolae_

There were many adjectives that I have heard others use to describe Alara.

Our wet nurse called her mischievous. The other noble boys said she was scary. The other vampire girls in the Romanian coven used to call her a shrewd. But the words that I have heard used most was _crazy_. _A crazy child. A crazy girl. A crazy bitch._

So when I happened upon the scene of Alara pulling the hair and clawing the neck of Jane Volturi, on one hand, I was surprised and then on the other I was not. It was Alara after all. _Crazy Alara_.

By the time the crowd grew to more than five, I was behind Alara trying to pull her away. A string of curse words escaped her mouth as I succeeded in pulling her away, but it wasn't until the calling of a surprisingly calm admonishment of the name Jane, that Alara was able to calm down.

"What is the meaning of this?" It was Caius, whose face held the emotion of shock mixed with disgust.

It was silent now, and it was then that I look away from my sister and looked over to Jane who was standing beside a boy, no older than I was.

"Master, the new one." Jane glanced at my sister. "Attacked me."

Alara laughed. "Really?" Then shook her head. "If you are going to use your power, at least have the balls to own up to what you did! She attacked me and then I attacked her. It was merely self-defense." My sister stepped forward and declared clearly as if she wasn't in a fight a minute ago.

It was then that my eyes met his since he was looking at me. I quickly diverted my eyes, mostly because of the embarrassment of the situation.

Aro spoke to Alara. "To the throne room." And the crowd seemingly diverged to let her stomp through. I moved to follow her as she followed Aro, Marcus, and Caius into the throne room.

"What happened?" I whispered to her, although I was sure everyone could easily hear.

"I already told you. She attacked me and I defended myself." Then she murmured something along the line of "that little bitch."

"You can't go around fighting people, Alara." I rebutted.

She glared at me. "What was I supposed to do? Stay there and let her torture me?"

"Walk away?" I offered.

She scoffed. "That's kinda hard to do when someone is mind-fucking your brain to think you are in the worst pain possible."

I knew that, but all I wanted to do was to offer another option, any other option apart from fighting one of the highest-ranking Volturi members. Alara was already on thin ice; I knew they wanted me and not her and I would rather her not give them a reason to rethink their agreement.

Alara looked a mess, her clothes were disheveled and hair disarrayed, yet her face showed no emotions. No regrets. No hurt.

When we got to the throne room, Aro began, " I thought we warned you not to upset us."

Alara smiled. "Are you upset?"

I stepped forward. Alara's temper always put her in bad situations and I could see clearly that this was a bad situation.

Despite this, Alara's face showed no fear, only a little smirk, that was so Alara-like.

It was then that Aro spoke, "You have been here for just over a day and already you have managed to cause more trouble than we have ever experienced."

His voice was surprisingly very calm, so much so that it made me very worried. " I told you she was trouble." Caius jeered, causing Alara to glare at him.

"What shall we do with her?" Aro asked tapping his fingers on the arm of his throne.

"Well, if-" Alara started to speak up.

"You do not get to speak!" Caius reprimanded.

Alara seemed startled but easily recovered, "I thought he was asking a question", she murmured more to herself.

"Unfortunately, we need her alive," Marcus spoke up and I turned my gaze to him. _Unfortunately._

"Do we?" Caius challenged, and it was then that I spoke up, "I will not have my sister harmed."

Aro smiled at me, "Of course not, Nicolae. I promise not to hurt your dear sister, remember. I keep my promises."

I hated that he spoke to me as if I was a naive child.

Alara scoffed, audibly.

Aro continued, "Nevertheless, your sister must be punished for her insolence and trouble-making tendencies. We cannot tolerate fights between our members."

"What about Jane." Alara countered."Will she be punished?"

"You were the one who attacked her like a wild animal" Caius declared.

"She used her power on me! Do you tolerate the use of powers to hurt other members?"

"Why are we even wasting our time arguing with her!" Caius shouted.

Alara rolled her eyes. I stepped forward. "What if she apologizes to Jane and promises to never do such a thing again?"

"What?" Alara cried out and I turned to glare at her. I was trying to help her after all, but as always she was making it so hard.

"I will do no such thing." Alara countered.

Caius smirked. "You heard her. She has no wish to apologize."

"Why would I? I did nothing wrong." Alara glared at me as if I was betraying her. Maybe I was, but still, I was trying to not get her killed.

"No need." A voice entered the room and I turned to see Jane along with the boy who was with her earlier trailing behind her.

"She is right after all." Jane continued. "She did nothing wrong."

"What?" Alara countered, with a confused look on her face.

Jane stepped forward." I would like to apologize for my misbehavior earlier. I honestly meant no harm, but obviously, you took offense. Apparently, my sense of humor is not for everyone."

Alara scoffed. "Are you serious?"

Aro stood up. "How mature of you Jane." He came to pat Jane on her shoulder and Jane beamed at the affirmation.

From my observation so far, it was clear that Jane admired Aro to the point of it being a bit cultish.

It was also clear to me that her apology was anything but genuine and if I knew, then Alara definitely knew.

Aro walked from the room, Marcus and Caius in tow, leaving the four of us alone.

We peered at each other for several seconds. Alara's hand crossed and face perplexed, before she broke the silence, " You conniving, little bitch."

A smile appeared on Jane's face before disappearing, and the sudden fluctuation of emotion was disturbing.

She stepped forward, "I understand that you are having a hard time getting used to how things are around here but soon you will find your place. I'll even help you with that."

Alara was about a head taller than Jane and at first sight, the situation of Jane threatening her was almost laughable but still, the tension in the room was stifling.

"I doubt that. " Alara countered. "I've never had a good track record with rules or arrogant little bitches."

"Or maybe we'll just get rid of you sooner than later." Jane countered. I stepped forward, having the intent of pulling Alara away from the altercation but so did he. The boy behind Jane. Her brother. Alec.

"Let's just go." I resolved.

"Yes, you should listen to your brother."Jane chimed.

Alara shook her head and stepped more forward until she and Jane were mere inches apart and if the situation was different it could be interpreted as the brief moment before a kiss.

But I reached out as subtle as possible and held Alara's wrist. The next second, Alara retracted and dash from the hall. I was left there with them. The Witch Twins.


	5. 5

_Alara_

I went to my room, or I intended to but outside my door stood a man. I recognize him as one of them who took us here but I remember distinctly that he was the one that talked the least, and who showed the least effect from the slurs I threw out throughout the trip. _Santiago._

I stopped a foot away from him and we stood there staring at each other for a while, despite this, it wasn't awkward or at least I didn't feel awkward.

"What?" I spat after a while.

"Word of advice." He started but I injected, "I don't need advice."

I could tell that my interjection caught him off guard and I was pleased to get some form of response out of him, he smirked for a brief second after.

"Ok, then. A warning." He then continued. "Don't start a feud with Jane, you'll never win."

"Jane. Jane. Jane." I sang in a mocking voice, stepping forward. "What? Is she queen around here or something?"

"Hardly. But the masters especially Aro like her enough to let her get away with a lot." I rolled my eyes. Why wasn't I surprised?

"There are rankings. Not all of us are equal. You'll do well in remembering that." He nodded his head.

"None of you are better than me. " I scoffed.

He raised an eyebrow.

I continued. "Anyone with gifts who think they are better than those with none is delusional. After all, what did they do to get their power? Nothing. People shouldn't be proud of things they didn't work for."

He smiled.

"So what's your power?" I asked briskly.

He seemed taken aback by my question, and he hesitated to answer for a second, before replying "I'm a low range tracker."

My confusion must have been visible because the next second he added, "I'm shit compared to Demetri."

I rolled my eyes. Again with the ranking and comparisons. I moved towards my room door and opened it.

"So why do they keep you around?" I walked into my room and he was still standing at the doorway looking in.

"Numbers, I guess."

"Strength in numbers. That seems like a rather dull technique for the so-called best coven in the world.

"We are the best coven in the world." He defended.

I turned around to look at him with an incredulous look on my face.

"Well, that is debatable." I sank into the armchair.

Now he had a look on his face, and I could tell he was going to ask me to elaborate. And at that point, I wished he would just come in since it was ridiculous having a conversation with someone just lurking at my bedroom door but my pride prevented me from inviting him in.

"How so?" He asked like I expected him to.

"Every vampire I ever met before coming here wasn't fond of you." I offered, saying 'you' as if I wasn't now a part of this coven.

"We are not in the business of being liked. It is better to be feared than loved." He responded.

"I agree, but obviously not feared enough to stop public admittance of disdain." I smiled.

He shrugged, seemingly not having a response to my comment.

" So who are among the highest rank here?"

He seemed deep in thought before speaking, while stepping into my room.

"Well, apart from the master's and their mates, there is Jane and Alec, Demitri, maybe Felix, Chelsea, Reneta and Heidi."

"They have mates?" I deadpanned.

"Why wouldn't they?"

I scoffed. In my mind, I was trying to imagine each of them being in a situation where they had mates. I could maybe imagine it for Aro and Marcus, but for Caius, it was almost laughable.

What women in their right mind...

"Well." He interjected my thoughts. "To clarify, Aro and Caius have mates. Marcus's mate is well-" He paused, seemingly considering how much he should share. "Gone." He finished.

I sat up. "What do you mean gone? Did she leave?" I couldn't imagine that happening but still asked hoping that prodded him on to share more information.

The impression I got was that it was either you stayed or died once you were accepted in. I wouldn't put it past them to kill people who would want to leave even if it is their mates. Of course, I would find a way to get me and Nicolae to get out alive, even if it took a century or two.

"Well, no-" He murmured his discomfort in talking about the topic apparent. "She was killed. It isn't something talked about around here. He still mourns her."

I felt a little sympathy at best but for the most part, it was fleeting and trivial to me. But at least that partially explained why Marcus seemed languid most of the time.

"Well, I can't say that I am surprised," I exclaimed.

"About what?" Nicolae was at my door peering in looking between Santiago and me.

"Marcus's mate was killed because she wanted to leave."

"What?" Both Santiago and Nico exclaimed the same word but in distinctly, different tones.

Santiago jumped in. "No, no, no. She was killed by a werewolf, not because she wanted to leave. "

Nicolae's face was pure confusion and the ridiculousness of the situation caused me to burst out laughing, causing Santiago to look at me as if I went crazy.

"You really need to be more clear in your explanations." I offered.

"I think the misinterpretation might be more on your part." He countered. "Your imagination seems to be concurrent with your personality, wild, and uncontainable.

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It was." He muttered. "Most people who join us are usually so elated to even have the opportunity that they stuck up to everyone. Your presence has caused more entertainment than we have had in the last few decades."

I smiled. Well, this will be fun.

"Please, don't encourage her." Nicolae interluded.

"Dear brother, if this is supposed to be our life for the rest of eternity, please at least give me the freedom to enjoy it a little bit."

Nicolae looked at me and then towards Santiago. I knew that look. He wanted to say something to me but not in the presence of my new acquaintance. It will have to wait until later.

I looked over to Santiago whose eyes were on Nicolae, giving me proof that he noticed the exchange between us.

I quickly changed the subject.


End file.
